Pedalling myths: the anti-bike lobby is flat out of plausible arguments

"With the 'bikelash' reduced to incoherent rants, pro-car common sense is losing traction. Allow me to ride to the rescue.

If you hold the view that bikes, and bike lanes, are among the
greatest evils threatening society today, you might at first have been
pleased to see this week's Toronto Sun column
by Mike Strobel, which has circulated widely online. Initially, it
appears to stand in the fine tradition of anti-bike screeds such as
those by the New York Post's Steve Cuozzo or Andrea Peyser, or the New Yorker's John Cassidy. All are on the frontlines of what's been called the "bikelash", brave fighters willing to stand firm against the growing popularity of cycling across north America. (One of the most prominent developments, New York's long-awaited bikeshare program, is due to launch next month.)
Take
a closer look, though, and you'll notice that something's amiss with
Strobel's piece. The average bikelash commentator, no matter how
dyspeptic, considers him or herself obliged to come up with some sort of
argument. That's why, for example, you'll see Peyser paying vastly
disproportionate attention to the tiny number of truly awful accidents caused by cyclists. It's why Cuozzo likes to conduct dubious amateur surveys to try to show that nobody uses bike lanes. But Strobel's rant against what he calls the "bicycult" is almost entirely devoid of argument. This is as close as he gets:

"The
nitty-gritty: Streets are designed for cars, not bikes. Especially in
winter, which is most of the time … Cars are common sense. They are our
era's horses. They're also vastly greener and safer than your dad's
Buick. They will never go dinosaur, despite the bike cult's best
efforts."

Still, you've got to sympathise with
Strobel's predicament. All the major cycling-related arguments have been
won: bike lanes are popular; they don't hurt local businesses; more biking doesn't lead to more accidents; bike lanes make pedestrians safer and don't impede the flow of car traffic.
To
anyone who agrees that cycling, much like genocide, is a phenomenon
that all decent people should condemn, the implication is clear: the
anti-bike lobby urgently needs some new arguments. It's my honour,
therefore, to suggest a few they might like to use:1. In some contexts, bikes are much more dangerous than cars.
Consider a heavy bike, dropped from a height of 20ft onto a playground
where numerous small children are playing, innocently unaware of the
tragedy about to befall them. Now compare this to a car parked on a
quiet street. Only the most biased, Brooklyn-dwelling NPR listener could
deny the obvious: the bike, in this example, is much, much more
dangerous.2. If you support gun control, you should support bike control.
Milquetoast liberals are always objecting to the argument that "guns
don't kill people, people kill people", because the widespread
availability of guns makes it more likely they'll be used for nefarious
purposes. Well, just follow the logic. Bikes can be used for nefarious
purposes, too: consider scenario 1 above, or the popularity of bikes
among drug-dealers. It's a no-brainer, therefore, that bicycles should
be subject to the same kind of ban currently proposed, in the US, for
semi-automatic weapons.3. Any true progressive should support cars over bicycles. The first bicycle dates from 1817. The first car dates from 1886. Are you a progressive or aren't you?4. The popularity of bikes leads to newspaper "trend stories" like this one, about how some women who ride bikes also wear fashionable clothes. This is actually a pretty good argument.5. Cyclists are bad people.
Let's give Strobel some credit here: he points to Lance Armstrong,
whose case proves that all cyclists are liars. It also seems likely
that, in the near future, neuroscientific research will confirm that the
same part of the brain lights up when cycling as when committing serial
murder. The evidence isn't in yet, but are we really going to wait to
dot every "i" and cross every "t" before taking action to counter the
horrendous possibilities?
OK, that should do for now. Take heart,
bikelash commentators! Now is not the time to backpedal. Steel
yourselves and keep fighting, until that glorious day when bikes are
gone forever".